Vapor Sports Ministries Builds Relationships Through Athletics
By Ella Robinson
While on a missions trip to Kenya in 2005, Micah McElveen watched children playing soccer. Their soccer fields were the streets, and they played barefoot with balls made out of plastic bags and string.
Now, five years later, Vapor Sports Ministries is changing the way soccer is played in Kenya and other third-world countries.
McElveen returned to the United States from the missions trip with a goal to start sports centers in Africa. He was determined to build relationships, share the gospel, and offer athletic training. This was the beginning of Vapor Sports Ministries, based in Sylacauga, Alabama.
Why Soccer?
A devastating surfing accident at age 14 left McElveen temporarily paralyzed. Two years of intensive rehabilitation helped him regain use of his arms and legs, but he was no longer able to play sports that required precise upper body motion such as baseball, basketball, or football. Actually, soccer was the ideal game for him. He went on to play on the college soccer team for four years at Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri; two of those years, he served as captain of the team.
While in college, McElveen helped manage soccer clinics for underprivileged children, and when he heard about a missions trip planned for Kenya, he was quick to take the opportunity. He spent a month in the poverty-stricken area of Kawangware, a place where children loved to play soccer in the street with a homemade ball.
From teaching underprivileged children in the United States to teaching children in Kawangware, Kenya, McElveen sees sports as an effective outreach tool. He has established Vapor Sports Ministries to use sports as a platform for sharing the gospel and making disciples.
Hitting the Ground Running
Vapor Sports Ministries has already built 11 soccer fields in Kenya; started the Vapor Soccer League, a five-days-a-week program with more than 500 youth enrolled; trained dozens of Kenyan adults to assist with the program; and built a $42,000 well to provide the community with clean drinking water.
In Ngong, Kenya, where there are some of the greatest runners in the world, a Vapor Sports Ministries center focuses on long-distance runners. And, construction on a center in Togo began in 2009.
The ministry’s goal? To build 40 centers in 40 slums in 10 years.
Keeping Ahead of the Game
Vapor Sports Ministries goes into a poverty-stricken area and offers literacy education, helps children to get into a school, and provides stipends for food. McElveen says the goal is to empower the next generation to take care of themselves.
Much of the money needed to support the projects of Vapor Sports Ministries comes from the Vapor Thrift Store in Birmingham, Alabama. A volunteer staff resells gently used, donated clothing and other items, allowing 80 percent of the profits to go directly toward the support of Vapor ministry activities.
The thrift store also raises public awareness for the ministry; serves as a center for discipleship, service, and ministry activity; and provides a way for volunteer staff to earn credit hours toward a future missions trip.
Why Vapor?
McElveen says that the surfing accident almost cut his life incredibly short. As the idea of using sports as a platform for Christian ministry began to develop, he chose the name Vapor Sports Ministries as a reminder that “life is a vapor.” He completes the thought with the slogan “Don’t live yours on the sidelines.”
If you would like to help support Vapor Sports Ministries through prayer or other means, contact Micah McElveen at micah@vaporsports.org or call (256) 208-2060.
Ella Robinson writes from her home in Pleasant Grove, Alabama.
While on a missions trip to Kenya in 2005, Micah McElveen watched children playing soccer. Their soccer fields were the streets, and they played barefoot with balls made out of plastic bags and string.
A devastating surfing accident at age 14 left McElveen temporarily paralyzed. Two years of intensive rehabilitation helped him regain use of his arms and legs, but he was no longer able to play sports that required precise upper body motion such as baseball, basketball, or football. Actually, soccer was the ideal game for him. He went on to play on the college soccer team for four years at Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri; two of those years, he served as captain of the team.
Soccer League, a five-days-a-week program with more than 500 youth enrolled; trained dozens of Kenyan adults to assist with the program; and built a $42,000 well to provide the community with clean drinking water.
Much of the money needed to support the projects of Vapor Sports Ministries comes from the Vapor Thrift Store in Birmingham, Alabama. A volunteer staff resells .jpg)
